As craft-focused wholesaler Night Shift Distributing (NSD) winds down operations in Massachusetts, non-alcoholic brewer Athletic Brewing will transition to the Sheehan Family Companies in the Bay State, effective October 18.
The transition to Sheehan subsidiaries Craft Massachusetts, Seaboard Products and L. Knife & Son comes less than a month after NSD announced it would be selling its most valuable asset — the distribution rights to the Night Shift Brewing brand — to Sheehan.
“We had a lot of fun the past three years building Athletic’s presence in Massachusetts with our friends at Night Shift and are thankful for their efforts brand building with us,” Bill Shufelt, Athletic’s co-founder and CEO, told Brewbound. “The transition to the Sheehan network is a natural one and this will take our partnership to 14 different distributorships nationally with them.”
Athletic already distributes with Sheehan throughout Washington, D.C., Maryland, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Vermont, Virginia, and Wisconsin.
Night Shift co-founder Rob Burns told Brewbound last month that the sale of Night Shift’s brand rights and potentially other assets came around quickly, with serious conversations taking place in the three months before it was announced. Sales of Night Shift products via Sheehan will also begin October 18.
Off-premise dollar sales of non-alcoholic beer in multi-outlet and convenience stores account for 0.53% share of the beer category, but have increased 25.9% year-over-year, as of September 5, according to the market research firm IRI.
Year-to-date through October 2, off-premise dollar sales of Athletic Brewing’s offerings have topped $15.2 million, according to NielsenIQ data shared by Bump WIlliams Consulting. Athletic’s sales have increased 435.9%, or nearly $12.4 million versus a year ago. Athletic’s Run Wild IPA was ranked eighth in NielsenIQ’s list of top craft growth brands, with $7.7 million (+366.9% year-over-year) in sales year-to-date through early October, while Upside Dawn Ale also made the top 20, posting $4.4 million (+409.9% versus a year ago). Note that not all of Athletic’s sales are captured in scans, as the company does a robust e-commerce business through its website.